RLS405 Roman Religions

Faculty of Arts
Autumn 2024
Extent and Intensity
2/0. 3 credit(s). Type of Completion: k (colloquium).
Synchronous online teaching
Teacher(s)
Krešimir Vuković, Dr. phil. (lecturer)
doc. Mgr. Katarina Petrovićová, Ph.D. (seminar tutor)
Guaranteed by
doc. Mgr. Katarina Petrovićová, Ph.D.
Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Contact Person: Jitka Erlebachová
Supplier department: Department of Classical Studies – Faculty of Arts
Timetable
Tue 1. 10. to Fri 10. 1. Wed 15:50–16:30 Virtuální místnost, except Mon 18. 11. to Sun 24. 11.
Course Enrolment Limitations
The course is also offered to the students of the fields other than those the course is directly associated with.
The capacity limit for the course is 30 student(s).
Current registration and enrolment status: enrolled: 20/30, only registered: 0/30, only registered with preference (fields directly associated with the programme): 0/30
fields of study / plans the course is directly associated with
Course objectives
Many aspects of our everyday life can be traced to ancient Roman religions. The calendar we use is a modified version of the religious calendar of ancient Rome and retains the names of many Roman deities and festivals. Religion permeated all aspects of life in the ancient city, from politics and family life to games and relaxation. Caesar was a great general and skilful politician but he was first and foremost pontifex maximus, the chief priest of the Roman state religion. The Romans worshiped a variety of deities, from native heroes to imported gods. Emperors were gradually incorporated in the state cult and their worship entailed respect for the Roman Empire by all of its loyal subjects. In time the mysteries or cults that originated in eastern Mediterranean gained more followers and one of them proved more resilient than others, sprouting the seeds of what we now call Christianity.
Learning outcomes
After the completion of the course, students will be able to:
- characterise the role of religion in Romans' life;
- describe the Roman calendar, different festivities, and religious ceremonies;
- characterise alien cults coming to Rome;
- describe the rise of Christianism and the religious situation in the fourth century CE.
Syllabus
  • 1. What is religion? Basic concepts: pax deorum, sacrifice, priestly colleges
  • 2. The Roman Calendar and Festivals
  • 3. Household Gods: Lares and Penates
  • 4. Divine Nature and Culture
  • 5. Omens, Prodigies, and Auspices
  • 6. Alien Gods and Cults
  • 7. Bacchanalia and Religious Change
  • 8. Colloquium (Mid-Term Exam) Sacred Spaces and Topography
  • 9. Religion or Philosophy? Cicero, Stoics and Academics
  • 10. The Cult of the Emperors
  • 11. The Mysteries: Mithras, Isis, and Cybele
  • 12. The Rise of Christianity and its manifold forms
  • 13. Sol Invictus, henotheism, and magic
  • 14. The Turbulent Fourth Century: Julian the Rebel and Saint Augustine
Literature
    recommended literature
  • BROWN, Peter. Through the eye of a needle : wealth, the fall of Rome, and the making of Christianity in the West, 350-550 AD. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2012, xxx, 759. ISBN 9780691161778. info
  • The Cambridge companion to the Roman republic. Edited by Harriet I. Flower. First published. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2004, xv, 405. ISBN 9780521807944. info
  • SCHEID, John. An introduction to Roman religion. Translated by Janet Lloyd. 1st pub. Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2003, 232 s. ISBN 0253216605. info
  • GRADEL, Ittai. Emperor worship and Roman religion. Oxford: Clarendon, 2002, xviii, 408. ISBN 9780199275489. info
    not specified
  • BOWDEN, Hugh. Mystery cults of the ancient world. First published. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 2010, 256 stran. ISBN 9780691146386. info
Teaching methods
Lectures, discussion.
Assessment methods
Seminar paper, class activity (70% presence) and mid-term written exam.
Language of instruction
English
Further comments (probably available only in Czech)
Study Materials
General note: Výuka začíná až první týden v říjnu. Lectures start in the first week of October. Teacher: Krešimir Vuković.
Teacher's information
ATTENTION! Lectures start in the first week of October! Teacher: Krešimir Vuković Literature: (sorted by relevance)

J. Scheid, Introduction to Roman Religion. Edinburgh, 2003.

J. Rüpke, Religion of the Romans. Cambridge, 2007.

M. Beard, J.A. North, S.R.F. Price Religions of Rome, Cambridge, 1996.

J. Rüpke, “Roman Religion” in The Cambridge Companion to the Roman Republic (Ed. Harriet I. Flower), Cambridge, 2004, pp. 179-196.

I. Gradel, Emperor Worship and Roman Religion, Oxford, 2004.

P. Brown, Through the Eye of a Needle, Princeton, 2013.

H. Chadwick, The Early Church, Penguin Revised Edition, London, 1993.

K. Vuković, Wolves of Rome: The Lupercalia from Roman and Comparative Perspectives. Berlin, 2022.

S. Satterfield, “Prodigies, the Pax deum and the Ira deum,” Classical Journal 110.4, (2015), 431-445.

H. Bowden, Mystery Cults of the Ancient World, Princeton, 2010.

J.A. North, “Prophet and Text in the Third Century BC.” In Religion in Archaic and Republican Rome and Italy: Evidence and Experience, (ed. E. Bispham and C.J. Smith), pp. 92–107. Edinburgh, 2000.

F. Santangelo,“Pax Deorum and Pontiffs.” In Priests and State in the Roman World, edited by J. H. Richardson and F. Santangelo, pp. 161–86. Stuttgart, 2011.

R. Beck, The religion of the Mithras cult in the Roman Empire: mysteries of the unconquered sun. Oxford, 2006. A. Sofroniew, Household Gods, Los Angeles, 2015

C. Edwards, Writing Rome, Cambridge, 1996, chapter 1: ‘the City of Memories’

N.T. De Grummond, Etruscan Myth, Sacred History, and Legend, Philadelphia, 2006

  • Enrolment Statistics (recent)
  • Permalink: https://is.muni.cz/course/phil/autumn2024/RLS405